


Community In The Woods

by Skitzer1985



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Halloween, Horror, One Shot, Somewhere mid season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:01:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skitzer1985/pseuds/Skitzer1985
Summary: A night over in a picturesque lakeside cottage is meant to fun isn't it?
Relationships: Annie Edison/Vaughn Miller, Britta Perry/Jeff Winger, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 17
Kudos: 13





	Community In The Woods

**Author's Note:**

> I set myself a challenge of making something in a week.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Come join us in the Community Discord #Fanfic Channel
> 
> https://discord.gg/hGSKsqr  
> \----------------------------------------------------------

The dank forest's silence was broken by the low sound of a slow-moving car, its tires crackling over the sound of pebbles and dirt being pushed into the ground. Winding through the forest, the dark-tinted Lexus moved slowly through the conifers and pines. Inside the car, the occupants sat in low conversation, their tone hushed by the environment surrounding them. Behind the low riding Lexus, an old, faded red colored combi van followed behind them, occasionally breaking the silence with a shuddering backfire as it rolled slowly along the slightly overgrown road. The line of trees suddenly broke away, revealing a clear meadow, broken only by a small stream running through the meadow, with the occasion stump rising from the long grass, and a large, well-lit log-style cottage standing in the center of the clearing just beyond the shallow, meandering stream. The small bridge over the stream creaked as the two cars slowly rolled over it, finally coming to a rest beside a large, sleek black town car.

On the porch, Pierce sat on a large, ornate chair, watching the rest of the study group emerge from the vehicles. Jeff was the first to open his door, the Lexus leaning slightly to the right as he swung his legs from under the dashboard, removing the keys from the ignition. He sat, his feet flat on the ground as he reached under his seat, pulling the small lever under his seat, and looking behind him to see his trunk lid popping with a soft pop sound. To his left, Britta climbed out of the passenger’s seat, her hand moving to flick the seat forward allowing out the occupants of the overly small back seat. A hand shot out from the back as Troy emerged, ducking his head to get out of the passenger door as he stood up, his hands going to the small of his back, attempting to stretch out the kinks from sitting cramped up for the three hours it took to drive from Greendale to the Cabin. Following Troy, Abed emerged, his face showing relief as he too was able to stretch out the kinks. Wordless, he handed Britta her leather jacket, which she reached for and shrugged onto her shoulders, reaching into her pocket and pulling the pack of cigarettes and lighter as the two occupants of the red combi opened their front doors, the metal squealing in protest as the doors came to a stop at the end of their arc.

“Mountain Flower” Vaughn turned to Annie “This place is magnificent, I am getting a real mellow vibe from this place” he said expansively, his unshirted upper body twisting around with his arms open wide, his bare feet wiggling in the grass.

Jeff rolled his eyes as he looked at Britta, who was matching his move as they both chuckled to themselves. The group moved in various stages of stretching over towards the large porch surrounding the cottage. A cottage was not how Jeff described this place now he was standing in front of it. The two-story lake house was well lit and full of glass, the second story overlooking the meadow and the lake just below it. The first floor was encompassed by a large, open porch with large bay windows looking out onto the meadow. Faintly, behind the log mansion, a thin, almost transparent wisp of blue hazy was traveling languidly towards the sky, the smell of wood smoke and meat floating on the breeze from the smoker that Pierce has had his cook staff set up for dinner tonight.

“Welcome,” Pierce said, rising from his seat to greet his guest “Welcome to Chateau Hawthorne. My little home away from home” He moved to the top of the small flight of steps “It’s not much” he said, deprecatingly “But make yourselves feel at home”

“Thank you, Pierce” Annie said, her fingers entwined with Vaughn’s “this place is beautiful” as they walked up the front step, Annie awkwardly accepting a hug from Pierce as Vaughn stood back, oblivious to the damp, cool wind blowing in over the dark lead colored lake.

Pierce took a step back from Annie, looking at Vaughn “Vaughn, welcome, no hard feelings over the breakup of the band?” he asked, puffing out his chest sounding hopeful.

“Pierce, man, no hard feelings, that would really buzz my vibe, you know what I mean?” Vaughn said in his voice carrying an ethereal sound to his as his voice drifted off on the breeze. Annie gazed at Vaughn as he stared off into the distance, her eyes glistening “Isn’t he the greatest” she said to no one in particular. Annie made a point to ignore the retching sounds from behind her as Britta and Jeff both stood there, their postures matching as they both pretended to hurl their insides up from the open display of devotion between the two.

Jeff pulled out his phone, his constant companion, and unlocked the screen, his eyes darting up to the top left corner and noticing the small white x symbol on the screen “Hey Pierce” Jeff said as he mounted the steps, Britta close to his side “Thank you for the invite.” “Cell Reception, is there a spot where I can check e-mails and messages?” he finished, sliding his phone back into his pocket

“Sorry Jeffrey my boy, this is where I come to escape from the pressures of today’s high-tech world, free from notifications, likes and tweets. There is a town about 45 minutes down the road” he gestured back towards too tall pines and the direction they just came from.

“Great” Jeff remarked “Ow” he followed up with, rubbing the shoulder that Britta had just struck as they headed through the door, Britta marking her entry into Chateau Hawthorne with a grunt towards Pierce as she walked through the door.

Abed turned to Troy, his face alit with glee as he spoke “A Cabin in the woods. A dark forest surrounding a meadow. No cell phone reception. If this were a movie, there would be a power outage tonight”

“Get out of my brain” Troy replied “It’s like that movie we saw the other day, Cabin in the Woods. If that’s so, I totally call being that Chris Hemsworth guy, I see him going onto great things.”

Abed nodded “Yes, so do I, not too sure what I see him as in the future though. I hear he was rumored to be in a new Marvel film”

“Ugh, maybe not then, they are so boring” Troy replied, reaching the bottom of the step as they finished their discussion and moved up to greet Pierce.

“Ay-bed, Troy, welcome, feel free to make yourselves at home and try to leave my silverware out of your suitcases”

Abed and Troy looked at each other as they in amazement as Troy reached for his phone to take a note down for his next Old White Man Said tweet when he got back into cell phone reception as they walked through the doorway.

Pierce, swirling the brandy that was left in his glass looked around at his idyllic surrounding as he turned and entered the door, closing it behind him.

***

Britta walked into the room, dropping her jacket and phone on the bed, and collapsing beside them face first as Jeff walked into their room, dropping his suitcases down under the window and going back to close the door.

Britta, lifting her head from the deep, almost royal purple bedspread, her long blonde hair masking her face, raised a hand to clear her vision “I still don’t understand why you had to bring so many suitcases for a long weekend away”

“Because Britta, my body is a temple, and I don’t see you complaining how I treat my temple” Jeff replied, his attention turned to the smaller of his two suitcases, the sound of clinking bottles resounding through the room as he checked his skincare bottles for damage after the rough dirt road track they took to reach their destination.

“You’re such a vain jackass, you know that?” Britta scoffed, her face falling back into the deep purple comforter.

“And where is your stuff?” Jeff asked, finally turning his attention back to his blonde girlfriend lying face down on the bed.

“I don’t need those material possessions, I’m not like you” her muffled voice came out from under her wealth of hair spread around her.

“So, in other words, either you forgot them this morning, or your one-eyed cat Daniel couldn’t tell your pile of unlaundered clothes from the litter box and used them instead. Again” Jeff guessed

There was a palpable silence in the room as Jeff waited for Britta’s reply “Sha-No” she replied, her voice wavering with uncertainty, trying to decide which one to admit to.

“Well then, last time you were over, you left a few clothes in the bathroom, lounge room, kitchen and the bedroom that I washed and packed for you.” Jeff said the sound of mirth in his voice as he reached in and took out Britta’s clothes, placing them on the bed beside her.

She looked up “I didn’t ask you to do that” she snarked, her eyes squinting at him at first before they softened “but thank you.” she said, her voice showing relief of having a change of clothes for the next few days.

“It’s fine, can't have you looking like a train wreck around me now can we" he laughed diving down on the bed beside her, causing her phone to somersault over her head, clattering to the floor

“Ass” she laughed back as her head worming its way onto his shoulder, the scent of his cologne filling her senses as they lied on the bed, just sharing the comfort of each other’s company. After a few minutes of peaceful enjoyment, their breathing started to get shallower, their pulses slowed as they drifted off into a comfortable nap, warmed by the closeness of each other when the sound of flip-flopped feet echoed down the upstairs hallway towards the stairs and outside

“Jeff! Vaughn! Get your asses outside and prepared to be whooped at some ball" Troy yelled from outside.

Vaguely in the distance, Jeff could hear Vaughn's unclipped toenails against the hardwood polished floor make their way towards the stairs, followed by the whispered muttering of Annie

“Vaughn, these people are like the family I never had, please, give them a chance for me" she wheedled, coaxing him outside to join in the game

“For you my mountain flower, of course, but I want to get amongst the water and the trees later, this place is giving me great inspiration for a new song about you"

Annie's giggles got softer as the sort to outside swung open with a faint whoosh and a soft creak of their weight outside on the porch.

“God, what does she see in him" Britta moaned as they sat up, both stretching their legs to outside before one of the guys barged in on them

“I have no idea, what did you see in him?” Jeff asked

“He may not have much musical ability, but the man does have a musical tongue" she replied, an impish grin on her face

“And with that remark, I need scotch, lots of it, or Troy to nail me with the football so I lose that mental image"

Britta laughed as she left the room with Jeff shortly behind her.

*******

After a game of football in which Jeff and Troy competed to outdo each other with their exhibitions of testosterone, they had all retired to the shallows of the lake to cool down in the humid afternoon. Vaughn floated along with the slow current of the cold mountain lake, his eyes closed to the overcast sky, and his ears just below water level. He breathed a large sigh of relaxation, feeling the stress of the school term flow out of his fingers and toes as he turned into himself, his hearing, already muffled by the dark water fading away as he focused on his breathing. He drifted along, not paying attention to his body moving slowly around the creaking pier as his friends sat on the edge, their feet dangling down into the dark water. Faintly, a small splash to the side of his roused him from his stupor, his eyes opening slightly to investigate the small ripples to his left as they radiated their way outwards nonexistence. Not seeing anything, his head again lowered down into the water, closing his eyes, and thinking of ways to describe his mountain flower, when he felt a bump against the small of his back.

“Hmm,” he thought, must have been a stick or something just under the waterline. He paid it no attention as his thoughts once again drifted off, thinking about what to rhyme with Mountain Flower.

“Again, with the stick.” he thought as again the small of his back was brushed again lightly, maybe there was an underwater weed just below him which he kept drifting over. He moved his arms to push him away from the underwater obstruction when he felt something slide around his leg. Absently, he tried to kick it away “must be underwater weeds.” he thought, not realizing that his legs had drifted below the water level. While he was kicking, the weed around his leg constricted tighter. He finally opened his eyes, moving his hands to help free his leg when the weed around his leg went tight and jerked him underwater.

Back on the shore, Pierce called out from the house “Hey, Dinners ready. My chefs have spent all day cooking up a feast for us” he walked closer to the group “We have Smoked Pulled Pork, cooked over an Apple and Cherry wood smoke mix, with an apple cider injection, along with a Smoked Brisket, cooked over an Ironwood and Redgum smoke mix. We also have some different varieties of root vegetable mash, along with a variety of salads, no expense spared. Funny enough, it is the same menu we had when I had the Reagans over for dinner in the summer of ‘83” he boasted.

From under the water, his vision dimming, he thought he heard his mountain flower “Vaughn! Vaughn!” She turned to the group as they were heading back up towards the house “Hey guys, did anyone see Vaughn get out of the water”

Jeff called out “Isn’t that him over there” motioning to a flash of color on the opposite lakeside.

“Yeah, he must be going for some meditation in the woods before dinner, that’s so like him” he could hear her giggle as her voice got fainter as she walked to the house for dinner.

With his lungs burning, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, and the underwood weed garden getting tighter and tighter around his body, he reflexively let free the last lungful of air he had and sucked a deep breath of water in. He screamed for the last time underwater, a scream no one could hear. With his heart pounding in his chest, his arms spasmed out in one final attempt at freedom, the weeds slipped through his fingers, sliding along their slimy length. Then, the energy seemed to flow out of his arms as they drifted limply towards the surface, raised in supplication towards the warmth he would never feel again.

No one was watching the water, their attention on the food and discussion around the large timber table, as the last air bubble rose to the surface, popping in the dark and silent water.

*****

Around the table, the remaining six sat on hardwood pine benches, around a long-rough-hewn timber table between them over ladened with food. Above them, the now overcast night sky was ringing by roughly sawn trestles with light bulbs hanging in rows around, giving the outdoor dining area an ethereal glow.

“It’s a real shame that Shirley couldn’t make it this weekend” Britta remarked

Pierce turned to her, a mouthful of pork and gravy almost to his lips “Oh, why couldn’t the Goddess attend us this weekend?”

“First of all, stop that, it's weird. Secondly, she had the boys this weekend and wanted to spend some time with just them” she answered, half-standing reaching for the salad bowl as Jeff stole the remaining kale from her plate.

“Hey Annie, did you want to put some away for Vaughn for when he returns?” Troy called out, his hands bringing a biscuit with a generous serving of gravy to his lips as Abed grabbed another serving of Brisket onto his plate.

“Oh, he’ll be fine” she started to say “Sometimes, when he gets into a real meditation session, he can be out in the woods behind Greendale for days, just living off the mushrooms he can find”

Jeff scoffed, a piece of kale flying out of his mouth to clear over Troy’s shoulder opposite him “Sure, he stays out there meditating and not high off of shrooms”

Abed, feeling uncomfortable with the subject of altering peoples brain chemistry, attempted to change it “So Pierce, how did you come by this place”

Pierce, slightly puffing out his chest, launched into a story “Well Ay-bed, this place has been in the Hawthorne Family for Generations. My Great Great Great Grandfather Thurlow Ephraim Hawthorne The Second, arrived in these parts, he made a deal with the local red skins…”

“Woah, Pierce!” they all screamed at various volumes

“Pierce” Annie stammered; her eyes wide in disbelief “You can’t say that!”

“Well sorry” he replied sarcastically “Well, he made a deal with the Local Indians” he paused to look at Annie who was still shaking her head disapprovingly. “Local Natives” he tried, as she stopped shaking her head and shrugged her shoulders, thinking it was the best they were going to get out of him. Pierce continued “Local Natives in this part for this plot of land and lake access. They didn’t want the area as it had been a battleground between their tribe and their neighboring tribe years before hand. Not believing his luck, he traded 2 cows and a chicken for it, and it’s been in the family ever since”

“So, what you’re saying” Abed started, his eyes alight “is that we are on a Native American burial ground?” he turned to Troy, gripping his hand and squeezing “A Cabin in the woods, with no Cell service, and on an ancient Indian burial ground? This is so a Halloween movie in the making. Maybe if we go and find my camera, we can find some scenes for a movie idea I have Troy”

“Abed, in the movie, it’s the group of people who go into the woods at night who get killed. Let’s just stay inside and watch a movie tonight” Troy replied, squeezing Abed’s hand back.

“Yes, stereotypically, it’s either the preppy co-ed” he looked at Annie who was helping herself to some apple pie “or the sports jock who is the first on any supernatural killers list, so you should stay with me, just to be safe” Abed said, a slight catch in his voice as he looked into Troy’s eyes.

“Hey Troy” Jeff called, breaking the two guys out of their daydream and back into the real world, “I thought after your keg flip in high school you wouldn’t be able to run like that again”

Troy preened, his back straightening and a dopey grin on his face, but his hand never letting Abed’s go “You know how it is, once you got it, you always got it”

“Have you ever thought about joining the Greendale football team? I hear they need a new quarterback after the last one failed Ladders and has to take the remedial course of Stools”

Britta shook her head “Only our college would have the remedial course for Ladders to be about Stools”

“Guys, a toast” Jeff called out, getting to his feet, and holding his tumbler of scotch up in the air in front of him “Greendale, where thankfully, we are already accepted”

An assortment of glasses, flutes and tumblers were raised as they all shouted out “To Greendale”

On the other side of the lake, far off in the distance, a flash of lightning rang across the sky, followed by the faint sound of rumbling thunder as the storm moved slowly across the woods, drenching all in its path. On that distant shore, a pair of footprints emerged from the lake, haltingly at first and then picking up momentum until they reached the tree's edge, a pair of white unseeing eyes turned to look at the cabin alone in the woods.

****

The lights dimmed in the upstairs theatre room, Abed slowly turning down the lights to create the illusion of a movie theatre. Once the lights were completely out, he darted his way through the chairs, over to the lounge he was sharing with Troy, lifting his end of the blanket, and resting his head against Troy’s shoulder as the movie started. Abed had brought several movies with him and after a lively discussion, the group had decided on The Blair Witch Project, which Annie admitting to never have seen before. Pierce decided that he had had enough and had wandered off to bed shortly after dinner. With popcorn made and cold drinks in hand, they made their way upstairs to watch the movie before bed. Outside, the storm was beginning to set in, the breeze had picked up, now carrying the slight smell of the lake with it.

“Annie, are you sure Vaughn will be okay outside?”

“Sure, he’ll be fine, once, when he went to Delaware for a Hacky Sack Tournament, he forgot to book accommodation and spent a sleeping under a tree. He is so rugged and down to earth like that” she beamed back at Jeff, her eyes glazed over in thought of Vaughn.

“Are you sure? We can go out and look for him if you want” he offered

“He’s fine, I left him some food and a drink outside if he ends up wanting to sleep outside, but thank you for the offer” she replied back, smiling at Jeff as she turned her attention to the start of the movie.

“That was nice of you Jeff” Britta whispered, her voice low in his ear as she wiggled into a comfortable position on Jeff’s side.

“And if you repeat that, we’ll have words, I have reputation to protect.” he said with a grin, earning a shushing sound from Abed in front of him.

Jeff wrapped his arm around Britta’s shoulder, placed a kiss on the crown of her head as they snuggled in to watch the movie.

***

The movie was interrupted by an ear-shattering crack of thunder, causing both Annie and Abed to raise their hands over their ears. With a flicker, the project went out, casting the room into an almost pitch-black silence.

Jeff was the first to rise, bumping into the divan in front of him with a thud, falling back into his seat, almost crushing the sleeping form of Britta.

“I’ll go and look at the circuit box” Troy offered, standing up before Jeff could get back up again. He lowered down and put a kiss on Abed’s head “I’ll be right back”

Abed’s hand shot out like lightning, his hand reaching for Troy’s “Don’t you know the first thing about horror movies?” In the faint light, he saw the confusion on Troy’s face “When you say you’ll be right back, you don’t end up coming back”

“Abed” Troy started, his hands lightly squeezing Abed’s in comfort “it will be fine” he dropped Abed’s hand “I’m good at fixing stuff, I’ll be right back, I promise.” he said just as he left the room.

“Well, I’m going to take this chance for a refill? Anyone else?” Jeff asked the four of them in the room.

“Count me in” Annie and Britta called out in the darkness in unison, both of them giggling at themselves as they made their way downstairs in the dim light being cast from outside.

As Annie and Britta stood there, instinctively huddled around Jeff as he poured himself another glass of Pierce’s scotch, a faint scratching at the kitchen window could be heard.

***

Outside, Troy fumbled with the flashlight that he found by the front door, flicking the switch on and off and banging it against his hand as it finally flashed to life, his vision slightly blurred as he blinked away the spots from looking into the light. Opening the front door, he walked outside and down the small flight of stairs. To the left of the cottage, there was a small, pebbled path, the small bits of quartz reflecting light in a myriad of colors as he walked towards to circuit box attached to the outside of the house. As he got close to the box, large, cold droplets of water started to sprinkle around him, echoing off both the fired stone roof of the house and the path around him. He turned his collar of his jumper up, trying to protect him from the heavy rain as he reached the circuit box, fiddling with the side of the box to open it.

****

The three in the kitchen slowly turned around to the large bay windows overlooking the lake. Outside the window, flashes of lightning reflected off the lake, illuminating the area in a bright, brief flare of white light. Lightning flashed close by, causing the hair on their arms and the napes of their necks to stand on end as a figure was silhouetted in the large glass window.

Annie was the first to speak “Oh Vaughn, thank you that you came inside before you got all wet and caught a cold” she said, breathing a sigh of relief as she started towards the large door just beside the window.

“Annie, stop.” Britta said, her voice wavering with uncertainty as Jeff and her edged closer to each other.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Annie asked, still moving towards the door to let Vaughn in from the cold storm overhead.

“Annie, something doesn’t look right with Vaughn” Jeff finished.

****

Troy shone his torch into the circuit box, his eyes instinctively flicking over the breakers until he found the one that had tripped. “See, nothing to it.” he said to himself more out of nerves than anything. He raised his hand to flick the breaker back up into the live position, his finger resting on the lowered switch as he pushed the switch up. A sudden flash of lightning lit up the area in a brief flare of white light, causing the hair on Troy’s arms and the nape of his neck to stand up. Troy saw nothing but a brilliant bright white light as he was launched back into the yard, a scorch mark starting on his finger, making its way up his arm until it reached his shoulder and disappeared under his jumper on his neck. his limbs spasmed as he was lying on the ground, his vision turning from white to black.

****

“Jeff don’t be silly, I’m just going to let Vaughn in before he gets too wet from the storm.” Annie said, her arm reaching up to turn the lock as Vaughn watched her move towards the door.

“Annie, stop” Britta said again. Something in her voice caused Annie to stop, her hand hovering inches from the knob.

Suddenly, the lights in the cottage flared to life for a split second as Vaughn was illuminated in the window. His skin had turned pale and blue from the cold, his hair hung limply at on his head, wet and still dripping from his time outside. Annie raised her hand away from the door at the sight of his eyes. His eyes were no longer the dreamy dark blue color Annie remembered seeing from just that afternoon. They were now a pale blue, almost white. Dark purple bruising surrounded his eye sockets, his cheeks no longer full and now sunken as he raised his arm to the window, his skin discolored and swollen from his time underwater. His eyes traced Annie’s slow steps backward, his mouth opening as she moved away. As his mouth opened, water flowed from his mouth, a nonstop torrent of water flowed down his shirtless chest, pooling up at his feet.

“Vaughn?” Annie whispered quietly, her hand raised to her mouth in shock and terror as his lifeless form stood there, his head moving in time to her slowly walking backward.

Vaughn, standing outside in the storm, raised his lifeless hand and banged it against the window, causing a small crack to appear in the double-glazed sheet of glass. Again, he struck the glass, causing another crack. Again, he struck the glass, leaving a faint smear of dark red blood as he pulled his hand back to strike again.

***

Abed sat upstairs in the media room, the small torch on his phone illuminating the back cover of the DVD they were trying to watch. Suddenly, the projector sprung back to life for a split second, causing the media room to erupt in a flash of color as the movie played. The projector’s bulb blew with a soft pop sound, throwing the room back into semi-darkness, Abed’s small torch the only source of light in the room. Abed stood up, throwing the still warm blanket off his lap as he walked back to the projector, smelling the acrid smell of a burnt bulb.

“Oh” was all he remarked, going back to grab his blanket to put on Troy and his bed when he heard a faint crackle coming from behind the dark, heavy curtains. Curious, Abed walked to the window, throwing back the curtains. Outside the second story window, Troy floated outside, his head held at a strange angle as he peered through the window into the darkened window.

“Troy?” Abed mouthed, his throat suddenly dry and scratchy as he noticed the scorch mark on his hand, running up to his shoulder and onto his neck. His eyes glowed faintly, crackling faintly with the sound of electricity as he hung suspended in the sky.

***

Vaughn’s hand pulled back and smashed forward into the double-glazed bay window, his hand now punctured with small shards of glass and thick goblets of coagulated blood as the window finally shattered in a spider’s web of cracks and tinkling glass.

“Run” was all Jeff said as he threw his arms open wide in front of the distraught Annie, ushering her out of the kitchen.

The window, now with a large hole in it, protested as Vaughn stuck his cold dead features through the hole opening his mouth, expelling dark water from his mouth, pooling on the floor below the window. The pool of water grew in size, slowly moving out from the window towards the fleeing three.

***

Standing stock-still in the upper level, Abed looked out the clear plate window as Troy hung in the sky, his eyes crackling with yellow electricity as he raised his discolored hand to point at Abed. His extended hand started to glow, slowly at first as it built, the glow moving up his arm slowly to his elbow, followed by his shoulder. Once the glow had reached his shoulder, his whole body was overtaken by the effect, yellow electrics sparks flowing over his body, the sparks growing quicker and quicker until Troy's body was a ball of blinding white light. As quickly as his body was covered in the blinding white light, it shrank down into a small orb in Troy's hand. His cold features never changed as he raised his hand, palm facing the window, as he pushed the glowing orb towards Abed.

Abed raised his hands in front of him, in an ineffectual attempt to ward off the electrical orb flying towards him as pain erupted against his entire side as he was tackled to the ground.

***

The three ran back upstairs, the water lapping at their heels as they reached the staircase, taking the steps two at a time. The stairs creaked in protest as they reached the top landing, stopping to look behind them at the ever-growing lake of water now pooling at the bottom of the stairs. Faintly, from the kitchen downstairs they heard the sound of broken glass, falling to the floor in small splashes as the window protested, the sound of grating glass running shivers down their spines as they realized that they now heard the muffled clicking sounds of untrimmed toenails on a hardwood floor.

“Keep going" Jeff panted, his voice ragged from both adrenaline and fear as he moved them along, turning around to see Annie still standing at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide as she drank in the view of the figure in the dark kitchen doorway.

Vaughn stood in the doorway, his body showing signs of his forceful entry through the glass window. Great ugly scars of deep red ran down from his shoulders to his torso, slowly pooling dark red stains on his board shorts. His shorts, one clean were now stained a deep brown, almost black from his time underwater and journey through the glass window. He raised his now lifeless sunken eyes to stare at Annie’s blue eyes, his mouth opening to again expel dark water down his chest, the water now taking on a ruddy tint as it mixed with wounds on him.

“Vaughn” Annie whispered, her voice overlaid with both fear and grief as the lifeless form took a step towards them

Jeff ran back to Annie grasping her by the hand “Annie, come on" he urged, pulling her unwillingly towards the back of the house.

“But Jeff” she started “We need to help him" she pleaded, her eyes not leaving the wet walking corpse below them.

“If we stay here, we’re dead Annie. I don’t think he needs or wants our help now" he replied, lifting the small-framed woman over his shoulder, following the retreating form of Britta down the hallway. They stopped halfway down the hall, banging on Pierce’s ornate bedroom door. “Pierce!” Jeff yelled, his fist banging against the door a rapid succession “Pierce!” he yelled again.

“Jeff” Annie whimpered from over his shoulder as she patted him on the lower back. He swung his torso around to see Vaughn’s head just above the top of the stairs, his dead eyes searching for them. His dead gaze settled upon the three, water flowing from his mouth as he made his way up the stairs.

Quickly, the three left Pierce’s closed bedroom door, moving down the hall to the media room, first Britta, followed by Jeff and Annie before slamming the door behind them. Britta turned around in the room, and without thinking, dived into Abed, tackling him to the ground as a ball of pure energy exploded on the wall behind him.

“We can’t stay here, we need to move” panted Jeff, his breath ragged from carrying Annie up the stairs and into the media room.

“Where?” Britta called, jumping into a standing position as she reached down to help Abed up. Abed, unable to turn away from the levitating Troy outside, looked at Britta, pain evident on his face “I told him not to say I’ll be right back”

Annie screamed, the voice muffled by the thick carpet in the media room. Her scream, an ear-piercing shrill continued as she pointed to the floor near the door. Thick, dark black water was spilling under the door, slowly moving its way towards them, its progress being impeded by the thick carpet on the floor of the room.

They looked around the room, their four heads all finally stopping on the shattered window to the outside world. Outside, Troy hovered suspended in the air, his face now focused on the four in the media room as his hands started to glow a soft white glow. Abed finally broke the terse silence “He’s charging up again! We need to move”

Jeff placed his hands on the window frame, ignoring the small cuts on his hands from the broken window as he swung his legs over the log timber window frame and landed heavily on his feet, sinking slightly into the damp soil at his feet. He turned to the window and yelled at “Quick, jump down” his hands raised above his head.

First to jump down was Britta, her blonde hair trailing as she fell against Jeff, causing him to stumble back a few steps until he got his balance back, placing her on the ground and reaching into his pocket. His hand withdrew from his pocket, grabbing her hand in his as he passed the keys to his Lexus, still parked on the other side of the house where they had left it a few hours ago since they had arrived.

“Take these.” he said his voice ragged from adrenaline “Take these, start the car, if we aren’t there in 5 minutes, go.”

“No, I won’t leave you.” she said, a slight catch in her voice

“You will, go, get the car started, I’ll be right behind you.” he replied, looking up and motioning Annie to jump “Go, hurry up!” he said, his arms outstretched to catch Annie who was already in the air

Again, he stumbled back as he caught Annie in his arms, he put her down, patting her head and looking her into her eyes “Go kid, get into the car with Britta and get out of here”

Annie, her face pale and drawn with both grief after losing her first real boyfriend and the fear of losing another one of her first real friends, nodded and ran after Britta.

“Abed! Come on, we have to go!” he screamed. His voice was muffled by the sudden uptake in the wind as Troy, his palm outstretched, a faint glow emanating from the pale skin on his palm, now hovered over him. “Abed!” Jeff Screamed, his voice not traveling in the wind to the broken window “Abed, I’m sorry” Jeff finally said as he started to run from Troy, his palm outstretched towards Jeff.

***

The door rattled in the media room as Vaughn stood outside, hand broken and bloody as the undead monster beat on the door. The doorframe finally gave way, splinters flying everywhere as the dead-eyed Vaughn came into the room. The cold lifeless eyes locked onto Annie as she leaped from the window, the fabric of her sundress fighting against her hands as she held it down.

Abed turned, his legs slow and heavy with fear as he started to trip over the blanket he had been sharing with Troy earlier in the night. Without hesitation, Vaughn leaped towards Abed, his arms enveloping around Abed’s chest as Vaughn’s velocity carried them both out the window and down to the hard, cold, wet ground below.

***

Jeff half turned around just as he reached the corner to see Abed falling towards the ground, his body being held in place by Vaughn as they both plummeted towards the ground. With a sickening crack, Abed hit the ground, his head taking most of the shock as Vaughn continued to hold on.

“Abed!” Jeff screamed out, his voice filled with anguish as he realized there was nothing he could do for his friend. He half-turned in the spot, starting to move his way to the Lexus. He turned the last corner, faintly, through the rain, he could make out the bright white xenon headlights of his Lexus. With hopeful safety in sight, threw all the speed he could into his final steps

***

Britta sat in the driver's seat of the Lexus, her hands on the steering wheel watching the clock. In the back sobbing quietly was Annie, still in shock over the night's events. Britta turned on the headlights in an effort to make it easier for Jeff to find his way in the gloomy rainfall that was starting to intensify. Suddenly, over the rain, over the sound of the idling car, Britta could hear Jeff scream in the darkness “Abed!”

“What?” Annie looked around “What was that?”

Britta, her voice quavering answered in a low, sorrow-filled voice “I think they got Abed”

Annie’s sobs in the background got louder as fear began to take hold of her.

Jeff sprinted around the corner, the muscles in his legs straining against the effort of running in the mud and rain sprinted towards the car.

Britta urged him on “Just a little bit farther, come on, come on”

***

Jeff was halfway down the side of the house, passing the broken kitchen window. Through the rain, he was homing in on the headlights and hopeful safety of his car when he felt a searing pain in his left side as his feet left the ground.

***

Troy hovered in the air above Jeff, his palm outstretched towards the Gas Cylinder as it exploded, throwing Jeff sideways, his clothes and hair on fire. His body not moving.

***

The explosion caused the earth to groan, the flame threatening to engulf the house. In the bright fireball hungrily reaching towards the sky, Britta saw the body of Jeff being launched across the yard, thudding heavily into, and breaking through the small wooden fence to the side of the house. Through the windshield and the rain, she could vaguely make out Jeff's body rolling to a stop, his face in the mud as his clothes and hair smoldered.

"Come on, get up, come on" she breathed to herself, not wanting to break the spell of unknowing, trying to use her sheer willpower to force him back to his feet.

His body did not move, it laid in the long grass, small wisps of smoke drifting from his clothes only to be extinguished by the falling raindrops.

***

Britta gunned the accelerator, causing the Lexus to roar to life, the front tires spinning in the mud until they were able to bite into the gravel driveway, the rear end of the car throwing Annie into the back window as Britta revved the car into the hopeful safety of the distant tree line.

“Britta” Annie sobbed “Where’s Jeff?”

“He’s not coming” Britta replied, fighting back both tears and sobs as she concentrated on the task saving their lives.

“What do you mean he's not coming?” Annie asked, her voice raising a octave, becoming panicky and shrill.

“Whatever that thing in the sky is” she paused taking a breath the calm herself as the car spun around the house, looking for the bridge to cross in the dim light of the storm “it killed Jeff"

***

To the left of the car, a ball of pure energy struck the ground beside them as Troy floated after them, his palm raised to them as he fired off energy ball after energy ball. They crossed the small stream, now raging with the rain from the evening as Vaughn stood in the stream, his open mouth spilling water into the stream. They flew across the bridge as Vaughn raised his broken hand towards the bridge, causing a wave to flow upstream, taking the bridge away in a single sweep of water.

In front of them, Jeff shambled into the path, his face now disfigured from the burns as he stood in beside the small gravel road out of the clearing. Britta slowly applied the brakes to come to a stop beside Jeff as he looked up at them, his eyes red with flames as he raised his hands towards them, small flickers of Red, Sooty flame flaring to life in his upturned palms. His red eyes studied them for a moment before flicking up to the other side of the road. Abed emerged from the trees, his skin and clothes now ruined from the rain and mud as he stood there, watching the car approach with dark, lifeless eyes. His hands twitched as Britta pressed her booted heel onto the accelerator again, causing the car to lurch forward.

“Britta” Annie started, her voice growing hysterical at two of her closest friends standing up ahead.

Abed’s hands twitched again, his long fingers moving from side to side, manipulating landscape as the ground in front of the car opened, starting as a small crack, then widening, mud and gravel falling into the dark abyss in front of them as they thundered towards the open seam of Earth in the Lexus.

“Annie, hold on” Britta screamed, fear getting the better of her as she closed her eyes, looking away from the windshield, launching the flying Lexus across the widening gap.

***

As the car flew through the air, a wall of red fire erupted in front of them, the flames attempting to touch the cloudy ceiling above them. The frightened two in the car, no longer in control as it soared through the air, dove headfirst into the flames. The car, wheels still spinning as the occupant never took her foot off the accelerator as the car landed hard on the other side of the still widening crack, its back end fishtailing in the mud and gravel as Britta struggled to get the car under control, it’s engine revving wildly as she struggled with the steering wheel, as it flew into the small dirt road between the tree’s, leaving the four standing in the field.

As one the four elemental spirits raised their heads to the sky and cried out, both in the pain of losing the car, and pain of losing themselves to the dark. Silently, as one, they lowered their heads and moved into the trees, their forms dissolving as they disappeared further and further into the darkness.

****

The sun rose the next morning, water droplets hanging off long grass in the clearing throwing small rainbows as the sun moved its way through the morning sky. In the house, Pierce sat up, his back hurting from sleeping on the mattress that was not his waterbed back at his mansion. He stood up, his fingers gripping the antique carved four-post bed he slept in that night. His sleep filled eyes focused on the ornate symbols carved into the bed post, from a time with superstition was alive in the world. He never could tell what they were, but stories past down in the Hawthorne Family were they were carved by a shaman, meant to protect the occupant from supernatural harm. He had always scoffed at the thought, sitting up and putting his slippers on and making his way to the small bathroom beside his bed.

Following his morning ritual, he walked over and turned off his white noise machine. He turned it on at night following the tradition of the Laser Lotus, expelling all thoughts from his head, and helping him maintain his higher-level functions while in a deep sleep.

Standing in his sky-blue silk pajamas, he opened his door. His media room door had been broken down. He looked at it quizzically, stepping out into the hall into a puddle of dark, cold water.

“What the?” he wondered “They must have had a big night last night. Oh well” he walked back into his room to get his phone. He opened it up and said out loud “Call Morty”

His phone replied back “Calling Mother”

“No, not Mother, Morty”

“Calling Morty”

He stood there, phone to his ear as he waited for Morty to pick up “Hey Morty, some friends and I had a massive party at the Log Cabin last night, can you arrange for a few handymen and cleaners to come and fix the place up? Usual price of course” He wandered over to the window at the end of the hall “And by the looked of it we’ll need tow truck as well, someone’s Van broke down by the looks of it. Thanks”

He proceeded to go back to his bedroom to get dressed. He went downstairs, ignoring the damage to the house as he walked outside. The small bridge had been washed away in a storm the night. He reached into his vest pocket, pulling out his phone to his father's assistant, Gilbert, to arrange for the Wipes helicopter to come and get him.

“ _Do I know how to throw parties or what?”_ He thought to himself as the helicopter came in to land, before ducking his head and pulling the door closed behind him.

******

1 Year Later 

The hiker approached the clearing, putting down his backpack and pulling out his tent and sleeping bag, preparing to set up for the night. He moved quickly as the sun was beginning to set and a storm seemed to be brewing on the far side of the lake. He quickly pitched his tent and made a small cooking fire.

After dinner, he extinguished his small fire, not wanting to start a forest fire as he settled into his Tent for the night. His torch was hanging from the top of the tent, acting as a reading light as he settled in for the night when he heard the snap of a branch outside his tent. Choosing to ignore it as it was most likely just a falling stick, he settled back down to read. Again, the snapping of a branch startled him as he reached for his torch and poked his head outside.

“Hello?” He yelled out “is anyone there?

He swung his torch from side to side, stopping when he thought he spotted a figure in the bushes

“Hey, whoever you are, that’s not funny” he called out, reaching for his cell phone. He looked down as it beeped the warning for no reception.

He looked up and swung his torch from side to side, not seeing anything “Must be seeing things” he said quietly to himself as he started to pull his head back into his tent.

In the darkness, a faint glow in the tree branches caught his attention.


End file.
